How to Get Likes And Make Money With Facebook

By: Shelly Kramer
January 11, 2012

Brands everywhere seem to be in search of what is today’s holy grail – Facebook likes. Want to know how to get them? It’s really pretty simple. Give people something they want. And if you do that, that’s the first step toward using Facebook to make money.

Yes. It really can be that simple.

You’ve likely seen the same ubiquitous signs everywhere that I have — “Like Us on Facebook” — or an even more compelling call to action, simply displaying the Facebook logo. I don’t know about you, but when I’m visiting my local sub shop and see those lame invitations, it elicits nothing more than a head shake.

Do brands really think that that’s all it takes (rhetorical question – I already know the answer). That because I see a sign in their store (or on their enewsletter or in a newspaper or TV ad) that I’m going to stop what I’m doing, pull out my phone and navigate over and “like” their page? Or even more ridiculous, that there’s even the most remote chance in you-know-what that I’ll remember to do it later, when I’m parked in front of my laptop? Dudes.

Seriously. It’s so not gonna happen.

But you know what does work? Asking for a like and giving something in return. Like this example from women’s clothing boutique Francesca’s. In exchange for a like, they’ll give me a promo code for a 50% discount on a piece of merchandise. That? That’s value. Oh, and combine that with the fact that they’ve let me know that this offer is good today only, well that … it’s a pretty compelling call to action. This kind of request — it gets my attention. What does it take to get your attention? Think about it as you think about asking for Facebook likes.

What do you think? Are you more likely to like a brand that doesn’t offer you any value, any compelling reason or even any reason at all to like them? In my world, the answer is a resounding no.

“Facebook allows you to capture ideal prospects regardless of how soon they’re going to buy, make an impression on them, and build a relationship with them. Getting potential customers more cheaply and reaching those new fans over and over with your Facebook page means you have a big advantage over companies that are only marketing on Google” says Carter. And he’s right.

It’s important to know – and a step that’s often omitted by companies large and small — that creatively marketing your Facebook page, making offers to potential fans that make sense and amassing initial likes is only one part of the process. Now the onus is on you to take that a step further. And the first step in that process is understanding that Facebook is about relationships.

And if you’ve managed to acquire fans, you need to think about what you’re doing on Facebook – from a marketing standpoint – that adds value to that relationship. A Facebook “Like” is like a first date. Now the challenge is to interest your fans in more dates. More dates mean giving them a reason to come back to your page time and time again, getting them to participate in discussions, share stories, or take advantage of a special promotion or offer and, equally as important, getting them to share the content you create on your Facebook page. And that, my friends, is marketing.

Makes sense, doesn’t it? You know we don’t recommend stuff that we don’t really believe in and, trust me, Brian’s book is sitting here on my desk as I write this. If you want to know more about how to effectively use Facebook as part of your online marketing strategy, buy the book. Today.

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http://www.carwilemarketing.com/ Michael Carwile

I agree businesses need to do more to make their Facebook “Likes” more incentivized. Your example is definitely great from the standpoint of driving those Likes, however, most small(er) businesses don’t have the time/resources to come up with a new offer every day, especially if that means there are graphics/other changes to be made to promote the offer.

What are your recommendations for those businesses? Do you know of any good examples where a business is using Facebook intelligently/efficiently that doesn’t require large quantities of updating?

I also completely agree with your point RE action with those that do take the time to Like a Facebook page. Too often do businesses beg people to Like their page without really having anything to drive business with those that do.

http://shinytoyrobots.com Robin Cannon

I agree with this. I’ve seen a lot more companies (particularly online, as opposed to traditional media) advertising with a “Like us on Facebook and get…something”. That’s a good start, but I think you’ve highlighted the importance of creating urgency as well in order to really highlight a call to action. Providing offers that require a like *today* are great for pushing people to click the necessary button!

One of the better campaigns I’ve seen recently was Chase Freedom’s Million Dollar Sweepstakes. That not only encouraged users to like the page, but also provided incentives to regularly return to the Facebook page every day for a month, which gave them a much stronger engagement with those users.

http://shinytoyrobots.com Robin Cannon

I think regular engagement is always a great start. The successful small business Facebook pages I’ve seen, even if they aren’t making offers, promote an active community.

That does require some activity (social media *is* time consuming – even if done efficiently, you still have to dedicate some attention to it), but one of the most effective ways of easily creating a sense of engagement is to ask questions. Whether it’s general questions about the industry, or specific questions about products and services, it engages customers and also (when successful) can lead to content creation on your Facebook page that doesn’t require heavy input from the owner.

http://twitter.com/briancarter Brian Carter

If you market through page fans, try infinigraph to find relevant content that lots of people have already liked and shared. If you’re not attached to page/fan marketing, just use FB ads to send people to your website.

Anonymous

I’ll have to check out Chase’s campaign, Robin – that sounds awesome. These aren’t new marketing tactics … they’re just things that people seem to forget when it comes to social media channels. Sigh. Thanks, as always, for coming by.

Anonymous

Actuall, Michael, I think small businesses can do a ton with Facebook as well. There are great apps available via NorthSocial (and other companies) that allow you to easily add tons of apps to your FB page, all for the low price of about $20 a month – and it’s very much a DIY concept. It doesn’t necessarily cost money to come up with good ideas and offers – it just takes time to think it through properly.

But there are many, many small businesses who are doing a great job with Facebook fan base buildup and offers. Brian has written about them a lot, so follow him and check out his work if you’d like to know more.

http://www.likeablebrands.com/ Luke Brassinga

Great post Shelly! Much like our most prized relationships in life, Brands and their ability to not only attract customers but strengthen their relationships depends largely on their ability to demonstrate: benefit, genuineness, and frequency of meaningful interactions. I really like the idea of running promotions (for both new clients/existing clients) in part because Brands can easily track and measure results.

And what is in your end…. it’s a LIKE… Well i think somehow this chance is good for us to use it. It’s something else that we don’t know and we don’t learn how to use it, maybe we can all make money for them by clicking and sharing but also we can make money for our self if we manage how to use the clicks. But thanks anyway for this…